


The Caterpillar Must Die

by DaisyNinjaGirl



Series: The Tenner [12]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Natural History & Philosophy, On the Transformation of Things, The Tenner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24653791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisyNinjaGirl/pseuds/DaisyNinjaGirl
Summary: Day Six - The Gift of Betrayal"Today, by God's grace, we are halfway through the dark."
Series: The Tenner [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680610
Collections: The Tenner





	The Caterpillar Must Die

_Edward was sitting in the drawing room, carefully putting together a house of cards. He looked up._

_“When first we came here,” he said, “our hostess asked us to tell stories of chrysalides. I had another story at the time, which I shied away from. But today, perhaps it is fitting.”_

**The Caterpillar Must Die**

We like to tell stories of the hungry caterpillar, and the beautiful butterfly it becomes. But who considers too deeply the _how_? We have only to see the outside shell of transformation, the hidden mystery, the chrysalis.

But I tell you, for once I tried this, if you break open a chrysalis too soon, you will not see a butterfly born before it’s time, its wings budding out like a new tooth or a calf’s horn. If you break the chrysalis too late, you will not see the caterpillar curled around it’s stomach ache, dreaming of what it will become. If you break it halfway through the change, you will find only liquid. To change, the caterpillar must dissolve itself into its component cells and allow the knowledge of how to become a butterfly consume the parts of itself that remember its life as caterpillar.

A philosopher will tell you that this is a gift: that in betraying itself into its cocoon the caterpillar allows an act of creative destruction. A naturalist will tell you that evolution is peculiar: that living things want to be alive, and the myriad ways they pursue this course are near infinite in number. I confess I merely find it disturbing.

_Edward slammed his hand down on the table hard, so the tower of cards fell. He began to rebuild it, the faces of the cards showing."_

_“Today,” Edward said, “by God’s grace, we are halfway through the dark. On the day we leave here, we will not be as we were, parts of ourselves are being consumed, are being remade, even as I speak. We betray ourselves every day. Let it also be our gift.”_

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by the column ["Chrysalis - or why the caterpillar must die" by Kirstin Vanlierde.](https://medium.com/the-story-hall/chrysalis-or-why-the-caterpillar-must-die-f932b8c3700a#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20be%20able,It%20literally%20dies.&text=And%20from%20this%20liquid%20essence,put%20itself%20together%2C%20from%20scratch.)  
> 


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